The present invention relates in general to surgical devices and procedures. Surgical procedures are often used to treat and cure a wide range of diseases, conditions, and injuries. Surgery often requires access to internal tissue through open surgical procedures or endoscopic surgical procedures. The term “endoscopic” refers to all types of minimally invasive surgical procedures including laparoscopic, arthroscopic, natural orifice intraluminal, and natural orifice transluminal procedures. Endoscopic surgery has numerous advantages compared to traditional open surgical procedures, including reduced trauma, faster recovery, reduced risk of infection, and reduced scarring. Endoscopic surgery is often performed with an insufflatory fluid present within the body cavity, such as carbon dioxide or saline, to provide adequate space to perform the intended surgical procedures. The insufflated cavity is generally under pressure and is sometimes referred to as being in a state of pneumoperitoneum. Surgical access devices are often used to facilitate surgical manipulation of internal tissue while maintaining pneumoperitoneum. For example, trocars are often used to provide a port through which endoscopic surgical instruments are passed.
Endoscopic surgical instruments generally comprise an end-effector attached to an elongated shaft, which may be rigid or flexible, and the shaft is, in turn, attached to a handle assembly. The endoscopic surgical instrument is passed through the trocar where the end-effector and a portion of the shaft enter the insufflated cavity while a portion of the shaft and the handle assembly remains outside the insufflated cavity. During surgical procedures, the trocar may serve as a fulcrum about which the shaft is moved.
The handle assembly in some endoscopic instruments is oriented transverse to the shaft of the instrument, which is sometimes referred to as a pistol-grip. Some endoscopic instruments have the handle assembly arranged in the same plane as the shaft and are sometimes referred to as scissor grip. Pistol grip and scissor grip surgical instruments often comprise two triggers arranged for actuation in a co-planar manner. In this arrangement, one handle is often stationary while the other handle moves which in turn moves the end-effector. While endoscopic surgical instruments are known, no one has previously made or used the surgical devices and methods in accordance with the present invention.